Hammer Throw

Athletes throw a metal ball (16lb/7.26kg for men, 4kg for women) for
distance that’s attached to a grip by a steel wire no longer than 1.22m while
remaining inside a 7-ft (2.135m) diameter circle.

In order for the throw to be measured the ball must land inside a marked
35-degree sector and the athlete must not leave the circle before it has
landed, and then only from the rear half of the circle.

The thrower usually makes three or four spins before releasing the
ball. Athletes will commonly throw four
or six times per competition. In the
event of a tie, the winner will be the athlete with the next best effort.

History

Legend traces the concept of the Hammer Throw to approximately 2000BC and
the Tailteann Games in Tara, Ireland, where the Celtic warrior Culchulainn
gripped a chariot wheel by its axle, whirled it around his head and threw it a
huge distance.

The wheel was later replaced by a boulder attached to a wooden handle and
the use of a sledgehammer is considered to have originated in England and
Scotland during the Middle Ages. A 16th century drawing shows the English king
Henry VIII throwing a blacksmith’s hammer.

The hammer was first contested by men at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris
but the first global competition for women was the 1999 IAAF World
Championships.

Did you know

Germany's Karl-Hans Riehm not only set a World record of 78.50m at a
meeting in the German town of Rehlingen on May 19, 1975, but all six of his
throws were better than the previous World record of 76.66m.

Gold standard

American thrower John Flanagan is the only man to win the Olympic Games
hammer title on three occasions, taking the gold medal on the first three
occasions it was contested in 1900, 1904 and 1908.

The only time a World record has been set to win a women's global crown
was when Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk won at the 2009 IAAF World Championships
with a throw of 77.96m.

Icons

Yuriy Sedykh

The Russian, competing for the Soviet Union, won two Olympic gold medals
in 1976 and 1980. He then had to wait another 11 years before winning the 1991 World
title at the age of 36. He also won at
three successive European Championships in 1978, 1982 and 1986. Sedykh set six World
records and his 1986 mark of 86.74m still stands on top of the all-time lists.

Yipsi Moreno

Since the introduction of the women’s hammer at major championships just
over a decade ago, few can match the record of the powerful Cuban. She’s won
two IAAF World Championships gold medals in 2001 and 2003, finished second
twice and won Olympic Games silver medals in 2004 and 2008.